Today we’d like to introduce you to Dinah Massie.
Dinah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I worked in the Texas Capitol for many talented people, including Rep. Robert Eckels from Houston. When Eckels was elected Harris County Judge, he recruited me to Houston to be his chief of staff. After working for Robert, I did stints with the Greater Houston Partnership and the Harris Health System as Director of Communications. When the position with Houston TranStar became available, I seized the opportunity to work for this one-of-a-kind governmental collaboration.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Working at Houston TranStar is always challenging because no two days are alike–most especially during hurricane season (or even a particularly rainy Spring).
The biggest challenge today is how to inform the public about the services TranStar provides without having a significant marketing budget. Although everyone who watches TV traffic reports in the early morning before leaving for work is seeing TranStar video, they may not be aware of it. Further, they probably are unaware that Google Maps and other online traffic sources rely on TranStar data to provide their speed and crash information.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Formed in 1993, TranStar was the first center in the U.S. to combine transportation management and emergency management technologies to improve public safety during natural and man-made disasters.
As a multi-agency collaboration (City of Houston, Harris County, the Texas Department of Transportation and METRO — the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County), Houston TranStar’s dual missions are to provide transportation management and emergency management to residents and motorists in Southeast Texas.
During Hurricane Ike, TranStar housed between 400-500 people 24/7 for about three weeks, ensuring that emergency workers had a roof over their heads and a safe place in which to respond to the community’s needs. We work most closely with the Harris County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management during these events to ensure they are best able to carry out their duties in a secure, disaster-resilient environment.
Apart from emergency responses, our day-to-day transportation management function involves providing real-time information to motorists about incidents along their commutes, whether a simple stall on a freeway shoulder, a multi-car pileup, roadway flooding, or an overturned 18-wheeler with a spilled HAZMAT load. We are continually managing freeways–365 days a year, 24 hours a day, updating our website with roadway information, keeping travelers informed through the electronic message board system, communicating with television and radio stations about ongoing freeway incidents and construction closures.
TranStar welcomes delegations from around the globe who seek information about how we do what we do, and most important, how we do it so effectively.
What were you like growing up?
My father was a college administrator/professor in a small town, so everyone knew us. People would walk up to us in the grocery store, on the street, at a sports event, and would thank him for teaching them. Then they would thank him for something extra he had done — tutoring them after hours to improve their English, or inviting them to our home because they were from another country and lonely, for example.
I grew up seeing that we are here to improve the lives of others, and in doing so, improve our own.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6922 Katy Road,
Houston - Website: www.houstontranstar.org
- Phone: 713 881 3244
- Email: dinah.massie@houstontranstar.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/houstontranstar.org/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/houstontranstar
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Image Credit:
Courtesy Houston, TranStar
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